Around Tampa Bay, an electrical panel usually gets replaced for one of three reasons. The insurer will not write it, because it is a Federal Pacific, a Zinsco or another brand many carriers decline. It is failing: breakers that run hot, a burned bus bar, rust from salt air or flood water. Or the house needs more than it can give, for a charger, a generator inlet, a pool heater or an addition.

Whatever the reason, the job follows the same path, and most of it happens before the old panel comes off the wall.

1. A load calculation, before anything is ordered

The first question is what the house actually needs. The electrical code has a method for it: add up the lighting and receptacle load by square footage, the fixed appliances, the AC or heat pump, the water heater, the range and dryer, and anything being added, then apply the code’s demand factors.

That calculation decides between a same-size replacement and an upgrade. A replacement keeps the existing service conductors and meter can when they are in good condition. An upgrade, usually from 100 or 150 amps to 200, means new service conductors, often a new meter can, and sometimes work on the utility’s side.

It also stops two common mistakes. Plenty of houses that “need 200 amps for a charger” carry the charger on their current service with a load-managed charger. And plenty of 2000s houses in New Tampa or Riverview already have 200 amps and no spaces left; their problem is room in the panel, not the size of the service.

2. The permit, and when a Notice of Commencement is needed

Panel and service work is always permitted. The permit comes from whoever has jurisdiction over the address:

the City of Tampa’s Construction Services inside city limits;
Hillsborough County through HillsGovHub in Brandon, Riverview, Carrollwood, Westchase and the rest of unincorporated Hillsborough;
in Pinellas, the city the house is in, since each city runs its own building department: St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Largo, Pinellas Park and the rest.

Florida’s 2026 permit exemption for small single-family jobs does not apply: it excludes electrical work entirely.

If the job costs more than $5,000, a Notice of Commencement is recorded with the county clerk before the first inspection. The contractor tells you when it applies and how to file it.

3. The meter appointment

To replace a panel, the service has to be dead, and that means the meter comes out. The meter and its seal belong to the utility, and Florida law makes it a crime to break the seal. So the electrician books the disconnect.

In most of Hillsborough that is Tampa Electric. Its Standard Electrical Service Requirements tell contractors to call for an appointment to disconnect the service and remove the meter, and state that no meter may be removed from an energized socket. In most of Pinellas, the same coordination happens with Duke Energy Florida.

The power is off for the swap, and it comes back once the work is done and released. Plan the day around it: food in coolers, medical equipment on batteries, and the garage door opened before the power goes.

4. The surge protector the code now requires

Florida’s 8th Edition building code applies the 2020 National Electrical Code. Section 230.67 of that code requires a surge-protective device on every dwelling service, and it applies when service equipment is replaced. A new panel in Tampa Bay comes with one, built into the panel or mounted beside it.

That fits the bay. Florida leads the country in lightning density, and modern houses are full of control boards (in the AC, the pool pump, the appliances) that do not tolerate surges.

5. Flood zones

If the house is in a flood zone and the panel or meter is being replaced because of flood damage, the new equipment has to meet the elevation rules. The Florida Building Code requires electrical equipment to be at or above the required flood elevation, including exterior equipment replaced after a flood. In unincorporated Pinellas, that is the base flood elevation plus one foot; each city confirms its own number for an address.

After Helene, that moved a lot of panels and meter cans in Shore Acres, Snell Isle, Clearwater Beach and South Tampa up the wall or into the house.

6. Inspection, labels and the four-point

The inspector checks the panel, the grounding and bonding, the surge protector, the clear working space in front of the panel, and the circuit directory. A panel with every breaker labeled to match the rooms it feeds is part of a finished job.

If the insurer was the reason, the last step is an updated four-point inspection. The electrical section asks for the panel’s brand, age, amperage and photos with the cover on and off. Once the new panel passes, those photos go to the insurer and the policy moves forward.

What to have ready when you call

The brand and amp rating on the panel label or the main breaker
Where the panel and the meter are
The reason: an insurer letter, failing breakers, or what you want to add
Your power company: Tampa Electric or Duke Energy Florida
Whether the house is in a flood zone, if you know

Replacing an electrical panel in Tampa Bay: permit, meter, surge protector and insurance